FAYETTEVILLE — If things had turned out differently, Tyler Wilson might be playing quarterback for Tulsa, not Arkansas, when the teams meet Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Wilson, an All-Arkansas quarterback from Greenwood, was committed to play football for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane for about 3 1/2 months during the fall of his senior year, based largely on his relationship with Gus Malzahn, who was Tulsa’s offensive coordinator.
But Wilson was looking for a reason to join what was shaping up to be an all-time great class of freshmen for his home-state Razorbacks, and he got it when Coach Bobby Petrino was hired to replace Houston Nutt on Dec. 11, 2007. Five days later, Wilson switched his commitment to Arkansas. He made it official on National Signing Day, embarking on a five-year career that has allowed him to break 26 school records.
Wilson, a two-time team captain who has assumed a larger leadership role since the April 10 dismissal of Petrino, now has a chance in the home stretch of his career to face the program that first won his commitment.
“I’ve never tried to live in the what-ifs, but yeah, I was briefly committed there,” Wilson said Monday. “Different coaching staff. Some of the guys there previously are still left over, but this is home to me. This is where I wanted to be.”
Wilson, whose play helped define Arkansas’ 11-2 season in 2011 and made him a potential first-round NFL Draft pick, has had a trying senior year even though he leads the SEC and ranks sixth nationally with 322 passing yards per game.
Wilson’s passing yardage is on pace - with a 12-game season - to surpass the 3,638 yards he threw for last season, but Arkansas’ 3-5 record has been a big disappointment for a team ranked as high as No. 8 in The Associated Press Top 25 heading into the second week of the season.
“I haven’t had much of this,” said Wilson, who was a redshirt when Arkansas went5-7 in 2008. “There’s a learning process with everything. You have to take it, and it is a little bit unusual, for sure, but I feel like there’s a lot of things I can learn from it.”
Wilson, 6-3, 220 pounds, has endured a physical pounding in 2012 as well as disappointment. Wilson missed the second half of the Louisiana-Monroe game, during which the Razorbacks blew a 28-7 lead, with a concussion that left him sidelined through a 52-0 loss to Alabama the following week. He returned for Rutgers the week after Alabama and has played all but one series since.
Wilson already has thrown one more interception (seven) in seven games this year than he did in 13 games last season,but he’s also on track to throw 27 touchdown passes (in 12 games), three more than last year in one fewer game.
Arkansas’ offense has been racked by injuries to key personnel. His only consistent wide out target has been senior Cobi Hamilton.
The offense has had 19 turnovers in eight games, has struggled with red-zone production and last week Wilson overcame a hard hit to his hip and and another to his chin against Ole Miss.
“Every week you go into a game knowing you’re going to battle,” Wilson said. “That’s part of the game. You can get dinged up a little bit. You’ve got seven days to recover.”
Wilson was hard on himself Monday, pointing out a missed touchdown throw to back Jonathan Williams on Arkansas’ first series.
“I’ve always been prideful in my work, what I do, taking ownership of even some of my misses,” he said. “There’s some of those out there.”
Wilson chose not to elaborate about why he chose Tulsa at first.
“I’m happy with everything that I’ve learned here, everything that has been put down,” Wilson said. “Obviously we want to finish it off and not live back then.
“Let’s create the now. There’s still a lot left to accomplish here and finish up strong.”
Wilson’s numbers
A glance at Tyler Wilson’s statistics from 2011 compared to his production this season:
STATISTIC
2011 2012
PASS. YDS PER GAME
279.8 322.0
TDS PER GAME
1.85 2.29
INTS PER GAME
.462 1.0
YDS PER PASS
8.3 9.1
COMPL. PCT.
.632 .597
LONG PASS
68 80
MISSED GAMES
0.5 1.5
Up next ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS
VS. TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE RECORDS Arkansas 3-5, Tulsa 7-1 WHEN 11:21 a.m. Saturday WHERE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville TV KAIT-TV, Channel 8, in Jonesboro;
KATV, Channel 7, in Little Rock; KHBS/ KHOG-TV, Channel 40/29, in Northwest Arkansas
Sports, Pages 17 on 10/30/2012